Keyword: «readiness for professional self-determination»

One of the elements of the state policy in the field of education is the professional guidance work among schoolchildren. From the 18th century measures have been taken in Russia to make schoolchildren focus on the pedagogical profession. In 2021-2023, the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation set a new vector in this direction related to the opening of classes of psychological and pedagogical orientation, organization of educational events and implementation of vocational guidance projects aimed at pedagogical profession. The purpose of this article is to justify a way to assess the results of directing schoolchildren at the pedagogical profession. The work defines the concepts of "professional guidance of schoolchildren" and "professional self-determination of schoolchildren," as well as reveals their relationship, presents the structure and levels of readiness for professional self-determination of students, proposes and substantiats the model of the final exam for students of the eleventh grade of psychological and pedagogical specialization as a way to assess the results of directing high school students at the pedagogical profession. The study used such methods as analyzing regulatory documents and psychological and pedagogical literature on the problem of the article, modeling and testing the model for assessing the results of directing schoolchildren at the pedagogical profession in the form of a final exam, content analysis of motivational letters of participants in the final exam and analysis of the results of the final exam. Theoretical significance lies in the development of a model for assessing the results of directing schoolchildren at the pedagogical profession. The study presents the experience of the Omsk State Pedagogical University on testing one of the ways to assess the results of pedagogical career guidance work with schoolchildren – the model of the final exam. The final exam for eleventh grade students was organized by the Omsk State Pedagogical University in 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 academic years. More than 120 students became its participants. The qualitative results of the study prove the validity of the proposed model. This model of the final exam can be used on the territory of all constituent entities of the Russian Federation, where specialized psychological and pedagogical classes operate.